Long Beach medical marijuana murder trial slated to begin next month

LONG BEACH — A tentative trial date has been set for four people charged in the 2011 slaying of a 29-year-old medical marijuana distributor, authorities said Thursday.

Marcel Mackabee appeared briefly Thursday at the Long Beach Superior Court for a pre-trial conference in the case, in which he is charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted on all counts.

He, along with co-defendants Kenneth Ray Johnson, 36, and Charles Anthony Mackabee,42, and Marcel Mackabee's wife, Rosemary Sayegh, are scheduled to return to the court Oct. 22, when it will be determined if everyone is ready to proceed with trial, scheduled for Oct. 26, authorities said Thursday.

Charles Anthony Mackabee, who is Marcel Mackabee's cousin, and Johnson are also charged with the special circumstance murder of Philip Victor Williamson, while Sayegh is charged with being an accessory to murder, police and prosecutors said.

Sayegh was initially arrested along with her husband in 2011, but she was released last November after she refused to waive time for trial and the prosecutor couldn't meet the statutory time limit.

The dismissal, however, didn't preclude police and prosecutors from continuing with their investigation, and a grand jury indictment was returned against her last December, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Los Angeles County Jail records show Sayegh was arrested again on Sept. 14 for her alleged part in the March 2011 slaying.

The Los Angeles man's body was found in an alley in the 1500 block of Pine Avenue. He was shot and robbed of roughly $500,000 cash and several pounds of marijuana, police said.

The victim worked as a courier, delivering marijuana from growers in Chico to medical dispensaries throughout Los Angeles County, police said. It is the alleged robbery that carries the special circumstance and the potential for the death penalty, authorities said.

The three men are each being held in lieu of $1 million bail, and Sayegh's bail has been set at $500,000, jail records show.